Navajo Nation 1950 - by Jonathan Wittenberg (Hardcover)

About the Book

In 1950, Jonathan Wittenberg, student of biochemistry and biophysics, went to live among the Navajo, or Dine, in New Mexico. With a bulky twin-lens reflex camera, Wittenberg was recording a people and their lives from a time that is essentially unrecorded. Navajo Nation 1950 is an incredible historical document that is not only a unique entree to a time and place, but a surprisingly fine art foray by an untrained photographic eye.

Book Synopsis

Navajo Nation 1950 is the journey of a time gone by. Author Jonathan B. Wittenberg has compiled his photographs and notes, savoring the days when he was able to incorporate himself into the fabric of the everyday life of one of America's most important cultures. Wittenberg, then a student of biochemistry, lived among the Navajo, who accepted him into their lives and allowed him to participate in their traditional activities. With a bulky twin-lens reflex camera, the young student took extraordinary portraits of people from a time that is essentially unrecorded. With more than ninety duotone photographs, this book not only features portraits of individuals who came to mean so much to the author, but also daily activities, the incredible landscape, and events hidden from the public eye.

Review Quotes

Between 1950-1953 Jonathan Wittenberg travelled throughout the Dinétah region of the Native American Navajo tribe, a region that encompasses the intersection of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. With his twin-lens reflex camera, Wittenberg captured the Navajos, and was the only non-native to be able to access them between the years of 1950-1953 - a feat he achieved by gifting the tribe with quartz crystals, abalone shells, and two bags of oranges, on his first visit. The photos he brought back are a rare insight into the Navajos, examining their culture and traditional practices.--Jocks & Nerds Magazine, 2/20/15

The photographs presented in Navajo Nation 1950 celebrate the drama and splendor of the traditional Navajo people and of the dramatic desert on which they endure.--Jonathan B. Wittenberg "PMc Magazine, Spring 2015 "

This is a book that captures and preserves the traditional life and culture of the Navajo Indians. Between 1950 and 1953, the author traveled throughout the Arizona-New Mexico region known as the Navajo Reservation. The land is harsh and yet stunningly beautiful. The people, as seen through the lens of his camera, hold the beauty and the hardship of the land in their faces. It is unusual and very rare even today that an outsider is allowed to view many of their traditional rituals. They are a private people.--Noella Ballenger "Apogee Photo Magazine "

Wittenberg fell in love with the high desert, and decided to go back, taking his bulky, twin-lens reflex camera with him. The result of his travels is collected in Navajo Nation 1950: Traditional Life in Photographs (Glitterati Incorporated). Wittenberg's photographs include stark desert landscapes on the reservation, juxtaposed with regal portraits of weavers, dancers, and medicine men.--Miss Rosen "Crave Online, August 14, 2015 "